Just a simple question here, now that they've ordered evacuations around the place, based on this sentence in The Atlantic's reporting:

The Atlantic wrote:And developers have constructed at least two subdivisions nearby, called Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens. Authorities ordered residents to evacuate both of them on Thursday.

What kind of moron builds a subdivision next door to a volcano? And how does he find an even bigger moron to buy into it? We get the same thing all over the Midwest and East, where people build on flood plains, and then buy flood insurance from the government (because no private company is dumb enough to do it at a price they can afford). Is there volcano insurance? I can't even buy earthquake insurance, even though I live in a place where only the most minor earthquakes occur.

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

It's a necessary requirement to qualify for the Evil Lair tax exception.

I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

Spoiler:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.- Douglas Adams

Upton_O_Goode wrote:Just a simple question here, now that they've ordered evacuations around the place, based on this sentence in The Atlantic's reporting:

The Atlantic wrote:And developers have constructed at least two subdivisions nearby, called Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens. Authorities ordered residents to evacuate both of them on Thursday.

What kind of moron builds a subdivision next door to a volcano? And how does he find an even bigger moron to buy into it? We get the same thing all over the Midwest and East, where people build on flood plains, and then buy flood insurance from the government (because no private company is dumb enough to do it at a price they can afford). Is there volcano insurance? I can't even buy earthquake insurance, even though I live in a place where only the most minor earthquakes occur.

Upton_O_Goode wrote:Just a simple question here, now that they've ordered evacuations around the place, based on this sentence in The Atlantic's reporting:

The Atlantic wrote:And developers have constructed at least two subdivisions nearby, called Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens. Authorities ordered residents to evacuate both of them on Thursday.

What kind of moron builds a subdivision next door to a volcano? And how does he find an even bigger moron to buy into it? We get the same thing all over the Midwest and East, where people build on flood plains, and then buy flood insurance from the government (because no private company is dumb enough to do it at a price they can afford). Is there volcano insurance? I can't even buy earthquake insurance, even though I live in a place where only the most minor earthquakes occur.

"When it's not Hell, it's a Paradise."

True indeed. I've often longed to visit there. But I wouldn't live that close to the volcanoes.

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

Hmm, in Siracusa? Home of the immortal and revered Archimedes? Wish I could. (I find it ironic that the most probable location of Archimedes's lost tomb is the courtyard of the Panorama Motel there.) It probably seemed safe for many centuries, until the eruptions a few years ago. Still, if what the geologists are saying is true, there is some risk in living anywhere in Wyoming or points up to a thousand miles east of it. Yellowstone could erupt at any time, or maybe not for thousands of years. Nobody can be sure.

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

I have earthquake insurance, but nothing specific to volcanos... and it is 200km to my closest volcano - Mt Fuji. I don`t have tsunami insurance and have a low risk there at 36meters from sealevel and 6km distance, but it didn`t stop an insurance salesman from trying to sell me some. Surely in Hawaii a mortgage lender would require earthquake insurance?

I've walked on the lava flow from that volcano thinking it was "fun" to smell my tennis shoes melting. "Is the possible falling thru a thin spot worth the smell of burning rubber?" did go thru my mind.

Just two years ago I thought about moving to Key West, Miami, Upstate New York, or Hawaii. I googled for sale lots in the named locations: they are cheap!!!!!!!! The volcano has a history of being very "safe" and predictable: ie, as here, you get weeks/days warning of any lava flow over your house..........ha, ha.......and people still stay until its too late....meaning in the case I saw, the oldster had to be helicoptered out. Hard to be more stupid.

Real Name: bobbo the existential pragmatic evangelical anti-theist and Class Warrior.Asking: What is the most good for the most people?Sample Issue: Should the Feds provide all babies with free diapers?

bobbo_the_Pragmatist wrote:I've walked on the lava flow from that volcano thinking it was "fun" to smell my tennis shoes melting. "Is the possible falling thru a thin spot worth the smell of burning rubber?" did go thru my mind.

Just two years ago I thought about moving to Key West, Miami, Upstate New York, or Hawaii. I googled for sale lots in the named locations: they are cheap!!!!!!!! The volcano has a history of being very "safe" and predictable: ie, as here, you get weeks/days warning of any lava flow over your house..........ha, ha.......and people still stay until its too late....meaning in the case I saw, the oldster had to be helicoptered out. Hard to be more stupid.

Uh, well, I think the possibility of breaking through thin lava would be uppermost in my mind also! There was a guy with the interesting name of Harry Truman (NOT the President), who thought those egghead scientists didn't know what they were talking about back in '81 when they warned that Mt. Saint Helens was about to erupt. He wasn't leaving, he said. No one has ever found his body.

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

Most homeowners and auto insurance policies cover you from some damage related to a volcanic eruption. ... Most homeowners policies provide coverage for property loss caused by volcanic eruption when it is the result of a volcanic blast, airborne shock waves, ash, dust, or lava flow.

The Formation of the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian Islands are volcanic in origin. Each island is made up of at least one primary volcano, although many islands are composites of more than one. The Big Island, for instance, is constructed of 5 major volcanoes: Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Hualalai and Kohala.

hmm....maybe not dormant...----- Kilauea is considered one of the worlds most frequently active volcanoes. If you just look at the number of Kilauea eruptions recorded since Europeans arrived, there have been 62 eruptions in 245 years, ...--------then there are the quakes....fox--- Erupting volcano, 1,000 quakes destroy dozens of homes as residents warned to flee flaming lava

Upton_O_Goode wrote: There was a guy with the interesting name of Harry Truman (NOT the President), who thought those egghead scientists didn't know what they were talking about back in '81 when they warned that Mt. Saint Helens was about to erupt. He wasn't leaving, he said. No one has ever found his body.

Yeah....not as stupid as not leaving when you can see the wall of lava slowly approaching your house. ...... but HIS problem was not that he tried to walk on the lava but that he tried to swim in it. That really doesn't work.

Real Name: bobbo the existential pragmatic evangelical anti-theist and Class Warrior.Asking: What is the most good for the most people?Sample Issue: Should the Feds provide all babies with free diapers?

Ha, ha......I'm getting a bit of ptsd remembering my day at the lava field. That really was stupid. Why did I do it?

....................and I blame: the Discovery Channel or Some NOVA program showing scientists and artists going out to collect flowing lava in their coffee cans tied to sticks.

The good lord protects fools.

Real Name: bobbo the existential pragmatic evangelical anti-theist and Class Warrior.Asking: What is the most good for the most people?Sample Issue: Should the Feds provide all babies with free diapers?

2000 degrees is not hot enough?-----it must be the ingredients of the molten lava that puts out the fire...the minerals or something..... it sounds like it's frying when it's burning, too...sizzling...acid I guess...

usatoday----The highest-profile time authorities diverted a lava flow was for a slow-moving flow in Iceland that was threatening a harbor. For five months in 1973, workers doused the front of the flow with ice-cold seawater until it ground to a halt. That required 1.5 billion gallons of water.

People all around the world live in places where natural disasters are strongly possible.

I live in New Zealand, which Australians sometimes call the Shakey Isles. I lived in an apartment in the town of Rotorua for four years. It exists on top of a geothermal field, and my apartment was heated in winter with hot water taken straight out of the ground.

Our capital city is Wellington, which sits right on top of a seriously active fault line. The Wellington earthquake of 1855 raised masses of land out of the sea, and would have caused high rise buildings to collapse if it happened in a modern and unprepared city. We have laws requiring buildings to be earthquake resistant.

When people make the decision to live in such places, they make a guess as to how likely a disaster will adversely affect them. If they think the odds are good, they go ahead. The people near Kilauea did just that and the toss of the dice went against them. It does not make them stupid.